Category: Read Selfishly in 2024

The Final Chapter or The Start of a New One?

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The irony of writing a blog post about the difficulties of getting your blog posts and reviews seen is not lost on me at all, and as with every time that I write something personal, as always, please note that what follows are solely my opinions.

2024 has been quite a bit of a year for me personally (you just have to trust me on that one), and also I think it has been the worst “professional”year since I started blogging.

Coupled with this, as I enter my fourth year of full time caring, I can honestly say that I have never felt more lonely and isolated, and one idea I had to combat that was passionately pitched by me and kindly and gently turned down by someone else, so my confidence has really taken a knock this year.

I have hit major reading slumps around three times this year, and like I suspect a lot of bloggers, have been wondering how on earth to keep shouting about books I love when it feels like no one is listening.

I admire the people who are fine with the hope that their writing brings one reader to the book they are talking about, but I find accepting that hard. I want to talk about books, I want conversations that lead to a feeling that someone gets you and that both your reading lists have grown. It all just feels disconnected and I hate it. I also know that I am not the only person feeling like this, judging by the conversations I have had with many other bloggers this year.

Reading and talking about books for me has always been about connections. With readers who you know will love the book too, with the author so that you can tell them how much you love their work, and on a more general level with the world at large, so that you don’t feel so alone – now more than ever.

It is so disheartening to feel that you read a book maybe for publication day, writing a review, telling everyone how brilliant it is, and knowing so strongly that there are so many people who would love it too. When you get absolutely no feedback or interaction – especially on social media, and sometimes from the publisher or author too, I wonder why on earth I bothered. Is it more important that a book is simply ‘seen’ as opposed to being reviewed?

In 2024, I have realised that book blogging isn’t what it used to be, and although everyone will deny it, as a 54 year old woman, I honestly feel less and less visible as a book blogger. I don’t do TikTok or Reels, no longer feel confident doing videos anymore, and what I feel is that my written words are being lost amongst a sea of brilliantly creative and other ways of talking about books that don’t necessarily mean written reviews.

That then makes me think why I am doing this. Is it purely because I want to share my love of books, in which case engagement and likes and being able to have proofs shouldn’t be important, but the book blogging world is a connected one. The more engagement and more that people connect with you, the more likely you are to be able to ask for proofs to shout about books before they are published. Yet that is not how I started book blogging, I didn’t even know what a proof was, which now makes me feel that being so aware of them is not what book blogging should be either.

To take the pressure off myself this year I have tried mixing up reading books from the library, books from my own shelves and proofs that I have been sent, and reviewing when I can. It’s ridiculous to even say that it feels freeing to do this, because at the end of the day, reading should be a joyful thing, not a chore or feel like a bookish test you are trying to pass.

Of course the rational thing to do if I am bothered by all this is to hang my book blogging hat up, and instead let other people carry on, but then what? Being at home as much as I am, without talking to other people for much of my day is honestly really hard – blogging gives me a purpose, something where I can be Clare, not Mum or Mrs Reynolds or a carer. It gives me a purpose, a feeling that there is something I think I am good at and love talking about. Books and blogging have been such an important part of my world for so long that the thought of walking away from this brilliant community is hard.

2025 is very nearly here, and I think I need to make some decisions. Either to carry on and not get upset by the fact that I feel no one is listening anymore, to understand that fighting against the social media algorithms is pointless, and to just think stuff it and give it everything without worrying! Or maybe it’s time for me to step back and appreciate I have had a brilliant time, but that Years Of Reading has run its course.

My love for reading and books hasn’t changed, it just feels like everything else in the book blogging world has. I have to work out how and if I want to fit in, and that’s the part I’m finding difficult.

Love,

Clare

Xx

Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession

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Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession

Published by Bluemoose Books on 23 May

What They Say

Ghost Mountain, is a simple fable-like novel about a mountain that appears suddenly, and the way in which its manifestation ripples through the lives of characters in the surrounding community. It looks at the uncertain fragile sense of self we hold inside ourselves, and our human compulsion to project it into the uncertain world around us, whether we’re ready or not. It is also about the presence of absence, and how it shadows us in our lives. Mountains are at once unmistakably present yet never truly fathomable.

What I Say

I don’t think it’s any secret that I have loved each of Rónán’s previous novels, Leonard and Hungry Paul and Panenka, and knew one thing for sure that Ghost Mountain would be very different to both of them.

Rónán’s skill as a writer is that he constantly surprises you with the way in which he uses the written word and weaves worlds that are like ours but seem slightly magical. I don’t think you can easily categorise his writing, and that is what makes it even more special, and why I love reading his novels.

In Ghost Mountain, the seemingly simple premise of a mountain that just appears one morning, and the reactions of those who know about it becomes so much more. This is a novel about the human condition, of connection and co-existence. It is the story of how our lives can often seemingly be destined to move in one way, but that a decision or action in a single moment can change your world and those of people who you have never met.

When the Ghost Mountain appears in the nameless location, it is discovered by a local woman called Elaine, whose interaction with it ends in tragedy, and her not wanting to articulate to anyone what she has found. As other people discover it, the story spreads, and the mountain is swathed in visitors and tourists, all drawn to the place which has appeared for no reason, bringing with it routines and behaviours and as in society creating a right and wrong way to behave while there.

We meet local couple Ruth and Ocho, married but it seems more because it works rather than for any passionate reason. Both react to the appearance of Ghost Mountain in different ways – Ruth is bewitched by it, and wants to spend time there, while Ocho is highly sceptical of it, and retreats to his parent’s house, a place of safety, mundanity and comfort.

We meet the Clerk of Maps, an unnamed official who sees this ironically as the chance to make a name for himself, and realises he now has professional worth in a world where he was previously ignored. There is also the landowner who has inherited the land Ghost Mountain stands on, finds himself in possession of land he cannot sell, and a tenant who refuses to engage with him.

I loved the character of Dominic – the renowned local drunk with a penchant for making his feelings known by attaching notes to bricks and lobbing them through the relevant windows. When he throws one through Elaine’s window with a promise to pay back for the damage a small amount each week over a period of time, these two people who have stepped back from the world find a connection that draws them together and their lives change.

This for me is the very heart of Ghost Mountain, and what Rónán achieves brilliantly. He shows us how we are all connected, and often want to feel that human connection with someone or a group of people. All the characters in this novel in some way cross paths with everyone else, be it by being in a relationship, meeting because one character knows another, or even by standing behind them in a queue in a butcher’s shop.

Moments of tenderness and joy are set against shocking events that as a reader stop you in your tracks, and Rónán’s understated and thoughtful prose adds to the impact of them. There is a section about a mother’s love and the grief that comes when you lose them that just stopped me in my tracks, and Rónán’s absolute understanding of that life changing experience is present in every single one of those words.

Society is complicated, layered and often wonderful, but it can also be brutal and exclusive. It will alienate those who don’t fit the expected roles or aesthetics, leaving a group of people who live their lives trying to work out how to fit in. The ever present Ghost Mountain serves as a catalyst for this community, prompting some to question what they have accepted for so long, others to take the first step to a new life, and for some to realise that their time in this world is only temporary and to accept that too.

Ghost Mountain is an unforgettable and erudite novel about love, society and inexplicable mountains. It will make you stop and think about what you have read long after you have finished it, and realise that life is fleeting and complicated and often challenging, but that it is up to us to determine the path we take.

I absolutely loved it.

Thank you so much to Kevin and Bluemoose Books for my proof copy.

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

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The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

Published by Hutchinson Heinemann on February 15th

What They Say

Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South.

Because of the murders.

Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv’s mum stopped talking.
Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all?

So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don’t.

But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families – and between each other – than they ever thought possible.

What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home?

What I Say

It is always brilliant to be able to review books by authors that you have met and become friends with on social media, which is quite ironic, considering that in The List of Suspicious Things we are firmly in a world way before anyone even knew what a mobile phone or Twitter is!

I had been chatting to Jennie for while – usually about all the fabulous books we have been reading, and sharing recent recommendations of books we loved. When I was offered a copy of Jennie’s debut novel to read and review, honestly, I was more than a little nervous – it is a Radio 2 Book Club pick, and already there have been so many wonderful reviews, that there is always the worry that I might not love it.

Once I started reading The List of Suspicious Things, I just knew that I was reading something really special.

Miv, and her best friend Sharon are growing up in the late 70s. Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister, and The Yorkshire Ripper dominates every news story and headline. Miv lives with her Mum and Dad and Aunty Jean. Her Mum keeps herself to herself, often in her bedroom and then disappears from their house for periods of time, with no one really explaining to Miv what is happening.

Miv’s Dad seems unsettled and not himself, and decides that maybe the best thing for the family is to move down South away from The Yorkshire Ripper and all the uncertainty and unrest around them. Miv is devastated and doesn’t want to move away, so the solution to her is perfectly clear – if she can discover who The Yorkshire Ripper is, she can stay here, with her best friend Sharon and nothing has to change.

Sharon agrees to help, and as Miv pours over the newspapers and listens to news about The Yorkshire Ripper, she decides that she and Sharon have to investigate anyone who fits any part of the profile. This is a brilliant way to change the narrative, because this opens up Miv and Sharon’s world for us to meet the people in their community who make their list, but also shows us that what we have always known is true – that appearances can be deceptive, and you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

As Miv and Sharon investigate the people and things they have hunches about, we are introduced to a range of characters – amongst them there is Omar who runs the local shop and his son Ishtiaq, Helen and Gary Andrews who seem to be a happily married couple, and Arthur, who is Helen’s Dad and dealing with the death of his wife.

Jennie’s writing harks back to a time when all our lives were contained in the small world of the streets and places and people we knew so well, and we were reliant on who had seen and heard what to find out what was happening. Yet it has to be said that this is not a cosy, uncomplicated and innocent novel, mired in nostalgia and a rose tinted view of life.

The List of Suspicious Things is also a novel that unflinchingly shows a world where there is racism, domestic violence, mental health issues and marital affairs. This is a world presented to us through the eyes of children, who see and hear these things, but do not fully understand the intricacies and realities of what they are party to. Their innocence and seeming naivety presents us with a different view of the world, whereas we as readers, and the adults in the story bring our own experiences and knowledge of the realities of what the children are actually going through.

This is such a layered and nuanced novel that deals with so many things in one book, all executed effortlessly. Undoubtedly the main focus of the novel is the project that Miv and Sharon are undertaking, as to whether they can find the true identity of The Yorkshire Ripper, but this is not singularly why this is such an unforgettable book.

What makes this book so compelling for me to read is the portrayal of family life and the wider community, in all its shapes and forms. I felt that Jennie absolutely understood all her characters and their voices are clear and distinct. You get a real sense of place and time without it being something that detracts from the plot, and it makes the book feel anchored and authentic. Miv is such a brilliant protagonist, fearless and questioning and also aware that her family life is not like other people’s. Her relationship with her Mum is genuinely heartbreaking. – she knows what it should look like, and there are little moments in the book that shows us how much Miv understands that whatever happens her Mum is still there, trying to find a way back to being the Mum Miv needs. Miv is undoubtedly the pivotal character in this novel, and it is her relationships with the people around her that makes this such a compelling story.

In becoming part of Miv and Sharon’s world, we are also looking back at a time that some of us can remember clearly – that sense of growing up in a world where human connection was part of our everyday lives, with no phones or social media to colour our opinions. Our world at that time went as far as the streets around us, the neighbours we knew and the conversations we heard. The List of Suspicious Things is an unforgettable book that perfectly articulates what it meant to be a child at that time, and in doing so may make us realise how far we have come, but also how much we have lost in terms of having that close community around us.

Do Miv and Sharon find out who The Yorkshire Ripper was? Of course I am not going to tell you, you need to read it. One thing is certain though, that I promise after reading The List Of Suspicious Things, Miv and Sharon will always have a place in your heart.

I absolutely loved it.

Thank you so much to Hutchinson Heinemann for my proof copy.